Governance and Structure

Page updated 10 May 2013

The New Zealand Export Credit Office (NZECO) is New Zealand’s export credit agency and is designed to help promote export growth by expanding the provision of trade related insurance products to New Zealand exporters and banks. The NZECO’s obligations to third parties are guaranteed by the New Zealand Government.

The NZECO is currently located within the Treasury. A letter of delegation from the Minister of Finance delegates the Secretary to the Treasury with the responsibility of operating the NZECO. The Secretary provides final approval of all export credit guarantees.

Technical Advisory Committee

The Technical Advisory Committee supports the Secretary to the Treasury with advice on issues such as the operation and performance of the NZECO, the effectiveness of risk management strategies and auditing and reporting requirements. The Technical Advisory Committee is essentially responsible for the operation of the ECO.

The Technical Advisory Committee consists of three members:

Tim Sole

Tim was appointed Chair of NZECO’s Technical Advisory Committee on 1 April 2013. He is a former CEO of Royal & SunAlliance Life, former CEO of State Insurance, former CEO of Public Trust, and currently CEO of Local Government Insurance Corporation. Tim is an actuary, a charter statistician, a fellow of ANZIIF (CIP), and holds an MBA from Victoria University.

Derek McCorkindale

Derek is a consultant with over 30 years experience in banking and finance. He is a former Director of Structured Finance for BNZ’s Corporate and Institutional Banking group and was a Credit Controller in the BNZ’s Risk Division for a number of years. He provides financial and risk advice to a number of NZ financial institutions.

Burke Steel

Burke manages a private investment company involved mainly in agriculture and related sectors. He was formerly CEO of Euler Hermes Oceania, prior to which he founded Lumley Trade Credit Limited, and has extensive experience in credit evaluation over a period of three decades.

Export Credit Agent

The NZECO has appointed the Swedish export credit agency - Exportkreditnämnden - to assist with the NZECO’s operational tasks such as processing applications, portfolio management, collections and providing recommendations on risk management and pricing.

The use of an Agent enables the NZECO to immediately draw upon international best practice in the provision of export credit guarantees.